A Scorpio-Drake Christmas

Baby, It's Cold... Inside

Part One: Baby, It's Cold ... Inside

"Mom, what are you drinking?" Noah Jr. asked, catching Robin in the kitchen at a rather inopportune moment. Dammit. She'd thought he was still in the playroom.

"Uh," Robin said, "just a little something to soothe my throat."

"Why? Does it hurt?"

Oh, perceptive child. Perceptive, perceptive child.

"Well, a little, I guess."

"Are you sick?" Noah Jr. pressed. "Because Dad says if you get sick, it could be really bad." His lips turned down in a grimace. "You're not going to end up in the hospital, are you?"

Robin shook her head, smothering a cough behind her hand. "Oh no, baby, no, I'm not," she said. "It's just a little cold, that's all. Remember, you had one of those over Thanksgiving break? It lasted for a couple days, and it didn't feel all that great, but it went away, and you went back to your old self like it never happened at all."

"But Dad said-"

Robin nodded. "I know, but your Dad worries about me too much. Which is why you can't tell him you saw me drinking this." She held up the half empty bottle of cough syrup.

Noah Jr.'s eyes, so like Patrick's, went wide. "You want me to lie, Mom?"

Robin put the bottle down onto the counter and moved over to her son. She gently palmed his cheek. "Of course not," she said. "I just don't want you to worry about it."

Noah Jr. shook his head. "But you're my mom. How can I not worry?" He asked, blinking up at her.

Out of the mouth of babes.

Robin's heart squeezed. "Oh, you sweet boy," she said. "You sweet, sweet boy." She started to give him a kiss on the cheek, but knowing she was contagious, settled for giving him a hug instead. "Thank you for caring about me. You're the best son ever."

He laughed. "Mom, I'm your only son."

"Well, that may be true, but it doesn't change the fact that you're still awesome, and amazing, and so, so wonderful!" Robin said. She pulled back and muffled another cough behind her hand. "Now, weren't we supposed to be going somewhere today? I think we were going to - where was it exactly? Oh, the dentist's office, right?"

Noah Jr. giggled. "No, Mom, the mall! We're going to meet Santa!"

"Is that what we're doing today?" Robin feigned surprise. "Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun!"

"Silly mom," Noah Jr. said.

"Race you to the car," Robin said, determined to keep up with her son at any cost, cold or flu, or whatever symptoms be damned.

"Okay!"

Robin stuffed the cough syrup bottle into her handbag and grabbed her purse, running for the door.

"Mom!" Noah Jr. shrieked. "You didn't say go!"

"Oh... go!" Robin shouted over her shoulder.

Xoxoxo

Robin and Noah Jr. spent hours together at the shopping center. First, they stood in a long line to meet the mall Santa. He was a fairly skinny guy with a very obviously fake beard who wasn't nearly as jolly as Robin thought he should be, but Noah Jr. loved him and had a fun time. He gave Santa a long list of items he wished to find under the tree on Christmas morning as Robin snapped picture after picture on her cellphone. After that, they had lunch in the food court and decided to do their Christmas shopping. While Robin had been stocking away gifts for months, there were some things she still needed to get, and Noah Jr. had a whole list of things to buy for his dad, his sister, his grandparents, and his friends, to name but a few.